Dispensing device



Patented July 13, 1943 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 4 P SI Y bEC 4 4 Charles S. VanBrocklin, Prtsmouth', N. Application January 31, 1942. Serial mmo I 1 Claim. 01. 221-60) This invention relates to improvements in collapsible tube dispensing devices and is directed more particularly to improvements in closure or cap mean therefor.

The novel objects of the invention are directed to a cap and closure means for a collapsible dispensing tube or the like such as used for dispensing tooth paste, shaving cream and similar materials, and is characterized by novel means for retaining the cap or closure therefor to prevent loss thereof.

With the foregoing and various other novel features and advantages and other objects of my invention as will become more apparent as the description proceeds, the invention consists in certain novel features of construction and in the and referred to in connection with the accompanying drawing wherein:

Fig. 1 is a side elevational view of a collapsible tube having the novel features of the invention associated therewith;

Fig. 2 is a side elevational view of, the tube shown in Fig. 1 with the closure or cap removed therefrom;

Fig. 3 is a plan view of the cap retriever of the invention;

Fig. 4 is a plan view of the retriever support of the invention; and

Fig. 5 is a plan view of another form of a retriever.

Referring now to the drawing more in detail, the invention will be fully described, it being understood that the reference to a collapsible tube is for purposes of disclosure and in no way limits the invention since it is adapted for vario s p rposes.

A collapsible tube is represented by 2 which has a neck 4 that is provided with screw threads, as shown. A cap or closure 6 is provided that is adapted to be screwed onto and off from the said neck.

A support 8 is provided that has an upper eye portion I0 adapted to encircle or in which the neck 4 of the tube 2 is receivable. Preferably the neck will have a circumferential groove I l around which the eye Ill extends and the parts are preferably so arranged that the support i not easily rotated around the neck of the tube.

A part [2 of the support extends from the eye l0 upwardly in the form of a loop or inverted U I4 and then downwardly to a lower eye or loop l8 and again upwardly through a curved part or hump I 81 .to itsextremity 20 which is adapted to overlie thesloping top side of a tube.

A retriever 24 is provided which has an eye 26 that is receivable in a circumferential groove 28 of the cap. An extension 30 of the retriever has an eye 32 that is slidable on the support.

The retriever and cap are preferably so arranged that the cap is freely rotatable in the loop 26 of the former to permit rotation of the cap as it is screwed onto and off from the neck of the tube.

When the cap is unscrewed from the tube, that is removed from the tube or from its tube closing position shown in Fig. 1, the cap and retriever are moved by sliding the eye 32 of the retriever along the support so that it is received in the lower loop [8 as shown in Fig. 2.

The support 8 is preferably made from wire that is more or less spring-like and the hump I8 is arranged with relation to the vertical outer part l5 of the support to form a somewhat restricted passageway I! therebetween. This is so the loop 32 of the retriever is more or less frictionally engaged as it passes through the passageway ll. 4

As the cap and retriever are moved to position the loop 32 of the retriever in the loop [8 the parts l8 and I5 are spread to some extent. This is so the retriever will not be accidentally displaced from the loop [8 when the tube is turned upside down or at an angle relative to the vertical position shown in Figs. 1 and 2 as it usually is when the contents of the tube are dispensed.

When it is desired to recap the tube, the cap is moved upwardly, the loop 32 of the retriever passing by the hump.

According to another form of retriever shown in Fig. l, a ring-like member 40 is provided that has an eye 42 with a link 44 therein. The link 44 is adapted to be engaged with the support and functions as and for the loop 32 of retriever 24.

It will be noted that the support is attached to the tube in such a way as to be substantially a part thereof while the retriever in slidable engagement therewith is rotatably associated with the cap or closure. This makes it possible to screw the cap onto the neck of the tube or to unscrew it therefrom and to move the cap to a position away from the neck where it is releasably held.

The invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the essential characteristics thereof. Hence, the present embodiments are therefore to be considered in all respects merely as being illustrative and not as being restrictive, the scope of the invention being indicated by the appended claim rather than by the foregoing description, and all modifications and variations as fall within the meaning and purview and range of equivalency of the appended claim are therefore intended to be embraced therein.

What it is desired to claim and secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

The combination of a container having a screw threaded circumferentially grooved neck extending from an upper end thereof and a screw cap for said neck having a circumferential groove with cap retaining means comprising, a support having an upper eye portion in the groove of the neck and a body part extending therefrom,a retriever having a loop in the groove of the cap and an eye slidable on the body part of the support, said body part of the support at the lower portion thereof being turned upon itself to provide a lower retriever eye alc iiit'tirig 'a 'side' of tlie' eontainer spacing a 'main 'vertical' portion T thereof away from the container with the extremity of the lower portion of the body part extending towards the main vertical portion above the retriever eye and then away therefrom to provide with the main vertical portion a restricted passageway into said retriever eye and an end portion overlying the upper side of the container, the said main vertical portion of the body part at the upper end thereof extending towards said neck in a plane above-that of said upper eye portion and then downwardly and inwardly towards said upper eye portion, the extremity of the lower portion' of the body part and the main vertical portion providing the said restricted passageway being'spaced to frictionally engage the eye of the retriever as it slides on the main vertical portion into and out of said lower retriever eye, all adaptedand arranged whereby said cap may be screwed onto and off from said neck and the'eye of the retriever slipped along said support through said restricted passageway "into said retriever eye.

CI-IiiRI-IES7S. BROCKEIN. 

